Uncharted 4 development appears to be troubled

Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series has been a critical darling since the breakthrough sequel to the original game on PlayStation 3. And while there’s another Uncharted game on the way, (revealed here last year), there appears to be trouble at studio. There’s recently been a rash of news out of the developer, and none of it has been good (aside from The Last of Us coming to PS4).

A wave of departures at Naughty Dog have thinned their ranks recently. Amy Hennig (writer for Uncharted), Justin Richmond (Uncharted 4 Director), and today, Nate Wells (lead artist for The Last of Us) have all left Naughty Dog in the last few months.

It’s already been speculated that Uncharted 4 would not be ready for 2014, but many had hopes that we’d have more details at E3. And while that may be true, the fourth Uncharted game is starting to sound like it’s going to need more time.

A second wave of reports on the Uncharted front from today, claim that Todd Stashwick’s role is being recast in the game. What this means exactly is unknown. Is Naughty Dog going back to the drawing board completely? Is it fallout from Hennig’s departure? Whatever the case, unexpected departures from key talent are beginning to add up at Naughty Dog, and it’s beginning to look like Uncharted 4 may be more troubled than we know.